Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 15 issued a draft guidance that outlines important steps manufacturers should take to address postmarket management of cybersecurity vulnerabilities in medical devices. The guidance builds on the FDA’s existing efforts to ensure the safety and effectiveness of medical devices at…

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How can OR managers better prepare staff to handle crisis situations? How can they encourage teamwork? Increasingly, OR leaders are turning to simulation to answer those questions.   OR leaders who think they can’t afford a high-fidelity manikin (one that talks and exhibits physiologic changes) and state-of-the-art simulation lab might…

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Many patients may be able to safely shower 48 hours after surgery without increasing their risk of surgical site complications, and showering may increase patients’ satisfaction and lower the cost of wound care, a new study finds. Showering after surgery is a controversial issue. Traditionally, postoperative wounds are cleaned with…

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Emergencies such as the one described above don’t happen frequently in the OR, but it is important to prepare for them, and simulation has emerged as an ideal educational tool. This scenario took place in a simulation lab, not a real OR, so the danger to the “patient” (manikin) consisted…

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OR Manager and ECRI Institute have joined in a collaboration to bring OR Manager readers periodic articles on topics such as medical technology management and procurement, risk management, and patient safety. ECRI Institute is an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improving patient care.   Every year, hospitals…

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Is your preanesthesia testing area providing measurable value, and is it positioned to drive surgery toward a new paradigm of care? As government payers shift toward value-based care with the required bundled payment for total joints starting in 800 hospitals and 75 markets (as part of the Comprehensive Care for…

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One of the last things ambulatory surgery center (ASC) staff want to do is transfer a patient to a hospital because it increases the risk of infection and patient discomfort, and it’s a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) quality measure (ASC-4). CMS and most states traditionally have not…

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Editor's Note This large-scale initiative, led by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, to implement surgical safety checklists in 13 South Carolina hospitals was associated with improved staff perceptions of perioperative safety. Included were improved staff perceptions of: mutual respect clinical leadership assertiveness on behalf of safety…

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Editor's Note Select hospital characteristics are associated with readmissions after major surgical procedures, this study finds. After adjusting for patient factors, rural location was predictive of readmission after colectomy. Low-volume and minority-serving hospitals were associated with greater odds of readmission after total joint arthroplasties. Because financial penalties may worsen performance…

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Editor's Note Expectant mothers who experience a traumatic injury and receive care at a hospital with a designated trauma center experience better outcomes than those treated at a nontrauma hospital, finds this study. The women are less likely to experience preterm labor, have a low birthweight infant, or have meconium…

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